Why Did the OUYA Fail? Reflecting on the Little Console That Couldn’t

"Despite the initial groundswell of support, the OUYA microconsole faded from the limelight just as quickly as it sprang up.With such momentum behind it, how could the OUYA fall from grace so spectacularly in only a few short years? Now that the dust has well and truly settled – even if the bitterness still lingers – we thought it might be a good chance to reflect on the little console that couldn't. So, why did the OUYA fail to connect with gamers?"

The only reason I bought an OUYA was because I heard it was good at emulation and I found one at Goodwill for $20. Turns out it is great at emulation, XBMC and works with the Dualshock 3 controller. If you're looking for a cheap and easy way to get emulation on your TV, I highly recommend getting one. It emulates just about every retro console and game.

It failed because the company chose not to actively promote it or find ways of drawing people's interest beyond that of their initial Kickstarter. At the height of this thing's life, I wrote for a few sites that found a decent amount of readership interested in indie games and other elements of gaming that the Ouya should've been able to attract very well. They never responded to any request for interviews or features that would explore ways in which the Ouya could deliver the sort of indie, DIY gaming experience that there was And still is a market for. Not one returned email from them, ever. And I should also add that I was writing for sites that were easily given review codes for games. We were struggling to turn a profit, but could easily demonstrate regular readership, and Ouya simply couldn't be bothered to realize there was a market growing in these scenes.

Thanks for your response, that's some really interesting info. Do you think it was pure ignorance on their part or rather arrogance thinking that they didn't need to engage in that sort of 'marketing'?

did it fail though? Im not sure what the expectations were, but it was backed by donations and Im sure every sale was pure profit. I figure they must of made their money and quit while they were ahead.

well, they marketed it as this thing where all of the games were free, but then very coyly stated later on that just the demos were going to be free. also, making it open source just invited people to pirate the crap out of everything on that thing. i said from the very beginning that it would end up just being a glorified emulator (I would try to find the comments i made years ago, but i'm not going to go through my comment history)... and, well... it ended up just being a glorified emulator.

I have one and it was good for emulation and XBMC but after a while it wasn't good anymore. When Kodi updated, the console wasn't able to handle it and you had to wait for an update. I never found out if that update came because the settings wouldn't let me connect to the store through ethernet or WiFi even though XBMC still worked.